Amundsen is a large
lunar
Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon".
Lunar may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games
* "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta
* "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...
impact crater
An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...
located near the south pole of the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, named after the Norwegian explorer
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...
. It lies along the southern lunar limb, and so is viewed from the side by an observer on the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. To the northwest is the crater
Scott
Scott may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...
, a formation of similar dimensions that is named for another
Antarctic
The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole.
The Antar ...
explorer.
Nobile is attached to the western rim.
The rim of Amundsen is slightly distended along the southern edge, and the
terraced
A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created s ...
inner surface is wider at that point than elsewhere along the outer wall. The crater overlaps a smaller crater formation to the northwest, and
Hédervári is attached to the northern rim. Just to the south of Amundsen is the smaller crater
Faustini.
The inner floor is relatively flat, with a pair of central peaks near the midpoint. Much of the crater floor is cloaked in shadow during the lunar day, with only the southern floor and the central peaks receiving sunlight.
Amundsen Crater hosts 82 square kilometers of carbon dioxide cold traps, where temperatures remain below , potentially containing solid carbon dioxide. Such areas could be high-priority target sites for future landed missions.
[Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, quoted in: Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon are confirmed for the first time, https://phys.org/news/2021-11-carbon-dioxide-cold-moon.html]
Satellite craters
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Amundsen.
The crater formerly named Amundsen A is now known as
Hédervári.
See also
*
1065 Amundsenia, Mars-crossing asteroid
References
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External links
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Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: A–B